The Gilbert Town Council on Thursday delayed a decision on slashing non-profit funding while voting to partner with an outside organization that will act as an "umbrella" for charitable groups and local volunteers.
A new Gilbert For Our City organization will operate under the direction of the mayor, Town Council and Councilman Victor Petersen, who was appointed as the group's first director.
Petersen is also leading a push to cut general-fund grants for non-profit organizations to zero but agreed to hold off on those discussions until at least February.
For Our City operates in several other Valley communities, including Mesa, Chandler and Tempe. The group is not necessarily intended as a fundraising mechanism but rather works to achieve annual goals outlined by the mayor and council, Vice Mayor Jenn Daniels said.
It is not yet clear how the organization will work in Gilbert, but Petersen suggested a Jan. 28 Congress of Neighborhoods meeting could double as a kick-off event in support of For Our City.
At an annual retreat in August, the council launched an effort to overhaul the way Gilbert handles non-profit giving. Some on the council expressed a desire to reduce the amount of taxpayer money used to support charitable efforts.
A council subcommittee that included Mayor John Lewis, Councilman Jordan Ray and Petersen brought two recommendations to the full council on Thursday.
The subcommittee recommended decreasing general-fund grants by 20 percent from the current level each year for five years, eliminating it altogehter by fiscal 2017.
During the current fiscal year, the town will give $326,000 to groups such as the Boys Girls Clubs of the East Valley, Community Services of Arizona and Child Crisis Center. The grants are distributed based on applications reviewed by the town's Community Services Committee, made up of volunteers from various boards and commissions with some at-large members.
The council is also looking for an outside organization to replace the Community Services Committee and work with non-profits to find fundraising opportunities.
Gilbert Community Action Network appears to be a leading candidate, Lewis has said. The agency has operated as an informal assembly of non-profits since 1994 but this year achieved federal non-profit status.
The group is led by former Gilbert Mayor Cynthia Dunham and former Councilwoman Joan Krueger, according to information from the Arizona Corporation Commission.
Other members listed are former Town Manager George Pettit, Chandler resident Randy Clawson and Gilbert residents Adam Baugh and Troy Wallin.
Councilman John Sentz opposes cutting non-profit funding, saying the money constitutes an investment in the entire community.
"What we need to understand is the customer is not the nonprofit," Sentz said. "The customers are the residents of Gilbert that have fallen on hard times or have some special needs. I think we tend to forget that."
One of the greatest beneficiaries of town grants this year was the Boys Girls Clubs of the East Valley's Gilbert branch, which uses the money for its Project Learn program. A survey found the high school graduation rate of Boys Girls Clubs alumni is 90 percent, although the national average is just less than 70 percent, the group says.
The organization's Gilbert branch operates on a $655,000 annual budget. Part of that funding comes from United Way and individual and corporate donors. If the group no longer received financial support from the town, it would have to find additional resources, club officials have said.
Community Services of Arizona, which operates the Gilbert Senior Center and Community Action Program, is also among the top recipients of town grants. The Community Action Program provides low-income households with case management and limited financial assistance to prevent homelessness and utility shut-off.
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